Fairness. More choice. Better experience.

Why your ideas about the CRTC’s wireless code will make us better.

This week, TELUS filed its formal comments in the CRTC’s Proceeding to establish a mandatory code for mobile wireless services. We have been longstanding supporters of developing a national wireless code of conduct because we believe that Canadians from coast to coast will benefit from having the same standards across a range of common issues. In fact, TELUS suggested the idea to the CRTC earlier this year.

We look forward to this public consultation because it provides another opportunity to hear from our customers and to keep getting better. We hope any Canadian with an interest in the code takes the time to join us in submitting their comments and participate in the conversation about this important development.

We know we’re not perfect at TELUS, but we’ve been working very hard over the last few years to listen to our customers – and respond. Based on our customer feedback, we completely re-wrote our service agreements – the fine print – in plain language. We introduced Clear and Simple plans, the first in Canada offering a simple all-in price with no system access fee. In just the last few months, we eliminated activation charges and lowered data overage rates.

“It’s an ongoing company-wide effort to put our Customers First in everything we do. You can read more about the changes we’ve made here.” (PDF)

We know we’re making progress because the telecommunications industry ombudsman, the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS), recently released its 2011-2012 Annual Report, which showed that it received 13 per cent fewer complaints about TELUS last year, in a year when overall complaints about our industry went up 35 per cent. We’re glad to see progress, but we know there’s more to be done if we want to bring those complaints even lower.

We’ll be listening throughout the CRTC’s process to learn more about how we can improve further.

The first public consultation period ended on December 4th, but will re-open on January 28th to obtain public comments when the CRTC releases its draft code just before the full hearing. In the meantime, if you’d like to let TELUS know what you think of our service or any ideas you may have, please share your comment below.

I love Telus, but my single biggest issue remains the ridiculous 3 year contract. That is almost as long as a car loan, and if, like many of my friends, sign a contract for an older phone, you pretty much will have to upgrade during the life of the contract which is advantageous for Telus, not so much for customers. Considering the still high cost of a monthly bill, the argument that we are amortizing phones over that period doesn’t hold much water, the longer the term of a loan usually means a lower payment.

I would never leave Telus if you fixed this last but most egregious of customer complaints.

Peggy5 years ago

Eliminating 3 year contracts would make many consumers very happy. I think Telus should be the first provider to offer this. This would impress your clients and potential clients. Nowadays, phone performance wears down after a year to a year and a half. So implementing this change is fair.

Derek Perrin5 years ago

I agree with the above comments. Get rid of three year contracts and charge slightly more for a phone but on a two year contract . Be the first in the nation to do so and set a standard for other carriers to follow like you always have. I’d also like to be able to have American texting included again like it used to be. Don’t know why you ever started charging for that.

Ted_Woodhead5 years ago

Thank you for your feedback Dennis, Peggy and Derek – and we hear you loud and clear. We heard from our customers time and again, that we need to simplify our price structures and make things much more clear and simple. Because of feedback like yours, we went back to the drawing board and introduced a simple Device Balance. Customers told us they wanted the flexibility to upgrade their device at any time and not feel like they are stuck in a contract. With our Anytime Upgrades policy and by moving to Device Balance, customers either buy their device outright and get service month-to-month or purchase their device free or at a discount and pay off their Device Balance over time.

The option of a 2 or 3 year term allows us to offer our customers a deeper discount from the onset. Taking it one step further, with Device Balance and Anytime Upgrades, customers no longer have to wait until the end of their term to be eligible for a discount on a device. All they have to do is simply pay off their Device Balance and upgrade to a new phone when it makes sense for them. It’s also important to note the trade-in value of your device when upgrading. For example, if you purchased an iPhone 4S on a 3 year term with a $470 subsidy, after 24 months, you can upgrade to the latest device simply by paying off your device balance and trade-in that same device for an approximate value of $150-$200, helping offset the cost to you. Often, the trade-in value can offset the entire Device Balance. Not all devices keep their value in this way, but the most popular devices like iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices do generally have a very healthy after market and strong used device pricing.

Ultimately, it’s about giving you the flexibility you’re looking for, whether you want the option to purchase your device outright, go with a 2 or 3 year term, trade-in or upgrade. I’ll be the first to tell you that this is still a work in progress. We see a tremendous opportunity to simplify term contracts and Device Balance even more – and we’re working on it. By continuing to listen to you, we hope we can deliver an unbeatable customer experience.

Vishal Malik5 years ago

Ted:

One of my concerns with Canadian wireless plans is this concept of local calling areas (LCA). It seems like a convoluted concept from the era of landlines.

Let me explain how complicated this is. If we’re in our LCA, we have to pay long distance charges if we call a destination outside that LCA, but no long-distance charges for incoming calls no matter where they originate. If we’re outside our LCA, we pay long-distance charges if we receive a call no matter where it originates, and also if we call a destination outside the LCA where we’re physically present, but no long-distance charges if we call a destination within the LCA where we’re physically present.

How’s this simple? And for a basic activity like talking on the phone? By the way, once we understand all this, we still have to figure out where the local calling area boundaries are.

Why not have nation-wide calling by default, like the rest of the western world?

Ted_Woodhead5 years ago

Thanks for your note, Vishal.

To your point, there are many nationwide offerings already out there in the marketplace, including our newly-launched unlimited talk, text and family sharing plans which includes a higher-tier plan with nationwide calling. To make things easier, customers have the option to add nationwide calling to any plan starting at just $10 depending on their specific needs.

That said, you make a valid point, and we hear you – it makes sense to simplify aspects of our service, especially when it’s important to our customers – to that end, we are taking your feedback into consideration.

Glenn Davies5 years ago

Having the option of buying the device out- right up front, or paying it off early is an idea that doesn’t make sense because the month to month rates that I can find on the Mobility website are not any lower. The published rates include the cost recovery portion, but there are no special rates available when TELUS does not need to do a cost recovery. The $100 discount for bringing your device to TELUS doesn’t come anywhere near equalling the $400 or $500 cost recovery that is built into the published rates.

Ted_Woodhead5 years ago

Thanks Glenn. If I’m understanding you correctly, the Device Balance clients pay is not related to the particular monthly rate plan, but rather the true cost of the device. When you purchase a discounted device at TELUS on a three year term, this upfront discount becomes your starting Device Balance which decreases every month until the end of your term. For example, if you purchase the Samsung Galaxy S III under no term, you would pay full price of the device of $650 and then have service month-to-month. Or, you pay $49 up front and have a Device Balance of $600 that is paid off over three years. You can then upgrade anytime by simply paying your Device Balance. For example, the price to upgrade after 1 year is $49 (3 year price) + $417.33 (which is the remaining Device Balance after 1 year) for a total of $467.33. Customers can choose to pay off their balance at any time, at their discretion.

The trade-in value that I mentioned in my previous post varies depending on how far into your term contract you are as well as the value of the device you’re trading in. The further into your term contract, the less your Device Balance and the more the trade-in value of your device can help off-set some of those costs.

Glenn Davies5 years ago

Thanks Ted. I don’t understand your answer fully. Using your example above; if I buy the phone outright for $650 and then chose my service on a month to month basis, Voice 40 is $40 per month and Data Flex 10 is $10 per month for a total bill of $50 per month. If I take the phone on a 3 year contract and pay $49 for the phone I need a $50 monthly contract such as Voice 40 at $40 plus Data Flex 10 at $10. So my monthly fees are the same whether I pay $650 or $49 for the phone. The only difference is that I don’t have a contract if I pay $650. But since the monthly amount is the same, why would I pay an extra $600 just to have no contract?

All comments are moderated by TELUS to ensure they comply with the blog House Rules